"Chisnall creates art that references such things as structure, time and Modernism as they pass through a very contemporary mindset that focuses on humor, transience, functionality and futility.”
D. Dominick Lambardi, 'Repurposing With a Passion', The Huffington Post.

Sunday, 8 July 2012

Now that I've got my scanned and laptop to finally start talking to each other I've been catching up with my backlog of unscanned drawings and posting some of them up on my Pictify page and on my Oodles of Doodles blog.

Most of the drawings that I've been uploading are from my quick-fire sketchbooks where I use a mixture of brush pens, permanent markers and Pilot Precise pens and try to make as many drawings as I can, in as short a time as possible. Some drawings can take a couple of seconds to execute while others might draw me in for a bit longer (like Grandad Skull above).

I do these quick-fire drawing exercises to free up the creative flow and have a bit of fun but it's surprising what can come out of them, especially when you are not concentrating too hard on what you are actually doing.
Some of my most enjoyable scrawlings have come about through my recent practice of drawing whilst looking away from the page, as in the case of this Wonky Batman sketch.

There's something quite liberating about the lack of control and the freedom of line. It's something that would be quite difficult to consciously replicate if drawn in the usual manner.

And some of these quick-fire, look-away drawings I'll revisit with a grey brush pen, to add a little shading - which I also try to keep suitably scribbly.

Monday, 2 July 2012

After a 3 year break the fifth incarnation of the Victoria and Albert Museum's, not so annual, staff show is finally here. With 79 entries, 'VAMALGAM 5' features more work by the museum's very talented staff than in any previous year. And I must say that the standard is even better than I remember from any of our previous shows.

Unfortunately the exhibition is in a part of the museum that is only accessible to V&A employees but hopefully next year's show will relocate to a part of the building where it can be seen by everyone.

In the upper right-hand quarter of the photo you can see my entry, 'Swirly Skulls on Pink'. This print had been my favourite out of my two versions of my Swirly Skulls prints but since I recently had them both framed I'm not so sure. Maybe I now prefer the simpler black on white version. It's interesting the difference a frame makes to a picture.

Oh, and yes, the guy on the right hand side of the photo isn't standing on a box - he really is that tall.

Recent/Upcoming Shows

Biog

Based in London since 1999, Chisnall now divides his time and art practice between London and his new, larger studio in Shropshire. Coming from an illustration, painting and print-making background he is now as well known for his sculptures and drawings.

In 2005 he was awarded a bursary and membership from the Royal British Society of Sculptors.

As well as his work appearing in UK and international exhibitions, magazines, on record covers, and on TV (including BBC 2's 'The Culture Show', Channel 4 News, London Live, and Channel 4's 'Four Rooms'), his sculptures have appeared in the feature film, 'Scratch', directed by Jakob Rørvik. In 2013 he was commissioned to produce a series of paintings for the horror film 'Bliaze of Gory'.

The artist's work is featured regularly in on-line articles and interviews, including two separate articles in The Huffington Post.

Chisnall has organised and run art/sculpture workshops for schools and businesses since 1998, including ones for ING Bank's London headquarters via the Royal British Society of Sculptors.

John Malkovich chose Chisnall's script, 'Doppelganger', as the winning entry in the 2008 Sony VAIO Scriptwriting competition. This script, along with Malkovich's was then turned into the short animated film, ‘Snow Angel’.

“ … I’m going to go with the “Doppelganger” script. It’s clever, inventive, and somehow both surprising and inevitable. Very neatly done all in all.” John Malkovich (4th Jan. 2008).

As well as working on his own projects the artist accepts commissions. His clients include Mary Fox Linton, Andy Martin Architects, Converse, Dawood and Tanner, Domus, Ctrl.Alt.Shift, private collectors, and the Ping Pong restaurant chain.

Artist's Statement

Most of my current sculptural work involves the reworking and assemblage of found materials; materials that I feel have a certain ‘resonance’.

Memory, or its fallibility, is also central to a lot of my work. This is more strongly evident in my early pieces, which incorporate or recreate childhood artifacts and toys. A prime example of this is ‘And When I’m a Man I'll Think As a Man’, the life size sculpture of myself as a twelve piece, pre-assembly, model kit. An important aspect of the piece is its bright green colour, which was chosen to match my memory of that of a childhood toy – realizing that the memory would have mutated; exaggerating the luridness of the colour.

Another re-occurring theme or motif in my work is that of the wheeled box or tower, which relates to containment, the urge to possess, and restricted mobility.

As well as the obvious sexual interpretation of the orifice element that has emerged in many of my recent works, my main interest in the device, lies in it being the portal between the internal and the external.

Although not a film maker myself, my work is heavily influenced by my early passion for film and animation. This is evident in my archaic-looking tower sculpture, ‘The City,’ which echoes the same fairy tale or dream-like quality that is characteristic of the short films of animators such as the Brothers Quay and Jan Švankmajer.

“Chisnall’s towering wooden piece is made up of tiny display cases and cabinets made from found materials like skulls, insects and fossils, a kind of modern cabinet of curiosities. Or a nightmarish vision inspired by Jorge Luis Borges. He explains that much like the inhabitants of a big city, each compartmentalised environment plays out its own narrative, seemingly oblivious to that of its neighbour”. Julia Kollewe (journalist – The Guardian and The Independent), 2009.

“...Wayne Chisnall creates art that references such things as structure, time and Modernism as they pass through a very contemporary mindset that focuses on humor, transience, functionality and futility. There is also the presence of popular culture in his thinking, as he addresses the differences between reality and perception, and how that affects the needs, wants and even the formation of the human psyche.” D. Dominick Lambardi, 'Repurposing With a Passion', The Huffington Post, July 14th 2014.